Field laboratory operator vs formulator

The differences between field laboratory operators and formulators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a field laboratory operator and a formulator. Additionally, a formulator has an average salary of $64,882, which is higher than the $54,062 average annual salary of a field laboratory operator.

The top three skills for a field laboratory operator include lab equipment, chemistry and safety regulations. The most important skills for a formulator are FDA, R, and QC.

Field laboratory operator vs formulator overview

	Field Laboratory Operator	Formulator
Yearly salary	$54,062	$64,882
Hourly rate	$25.99	$31.19
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	109,087	412
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

Field laboratory operator vs formulator salary

Field laboratory operators and formulators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Field Laboratory Operator	Formulator
Average salary	$54,062	$64,882
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $77,000	Between $36,000 And $116,000
Highest paying City	-	Morgantown, WV
Highest paying state	-	West Virginia
Best paying company	-	Qorvo
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between field laboratory operator and formulator education

There are a few differences between a field laboratory operator and a formulator in terms of educational background:

	Field Laboratory Operator	Formulator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Business	Chemistry
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Field laboratory operator vs formulator demographics

Here are the differences between field laboratory operators' and formulators' demographics:

	Field Laboratory Operator	Formulator
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 62.6% Female, 37.4%	Male, 81.9% Female, 18.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 9.3% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 8.6% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between field laboratory operator and formulator duties and responsibilities

Field laboratory operator example responsibilities.

Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
Perform lab testing, including automatic titration, GC, and HPLC.
Develop and validate analytical methods for HPLC, GC-MS, UV-Vis, and FT-IR.
Maintain and calibrate lab and field equipment and document calibration to ensure equipment run optimal.
Support laboratory quality control and safety initiatives and provide direct support to the microbiology, processing and emergency departments as needed.
Perform basic analyzer troubleshooting on centrifuge, label printers, and maintain quality controls on chemistry and hematology analyzer.

Formulator example responsibilities.

Manage daily production schedule, monitor machine operation, addressed any etching machinery problems.
wear proper PPE for the jobs need to be done.
Follow all PPE rules and requirements.
Construct spectrophotometer database for all lacquer and UV base inks.
Warehouse, packing and stacking pallets, fill jugs with product, and cleaning
Operate blend tanks, agitators, and various pump as directed by batch record.

Field laboratory operator vs formulator skills

Common field laboratory operator skills

Lab Equipment, 24%
Chemistry, 22%
Safety Regulations, 11%
Test Results, 5%
QC, 5%
DNA, 3%

Common formulator skills

FDA, 16%
R, 13%
QC, 10%
GMP, 10%
Pallets, 9%
ISO, 7%

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Field Laboratory Operator
Field Laboratory Operator vs Formulator

Updated January 8, 2025

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